Disorder in the court

PETER GUINTApeter.guinta@staugustine.com

Published Thursday, November 15, 2007

Starting next month, "Pardon Our Dust" signs will almost certainly be posted around the St. Johns County Courthouse complex because nearly every public office there will be moved, renovated or expanded.

The reason? Growth. The county's population rise puts pressure on government agencies to meet an increased demand for services.

The County Commission this week unanimously approved a $2.32 million bid from Hashman Construction Inc., to renovate 40,000 square feet of its office space, then move the offices of Clerk of the Court, Finance Department, Traffic Court and Public Defender over to the current County Administration building.

After those agencies vacate the courthouse, all civil and criminal court functions will expand into newly renovated space inside that building. Most of the money in this phase will be spent on creating larger spaces for county functions and the courts.

In the second phase, some courthouse offices will be demolished and two new courtrooms built. Also, the State Attorney and jury selection will be moved to the old administration building.

The first phase begins in December and construction takes about a year.

Mike Rubin, director of contractor services, said this project will most likely be disruptive to people doing business at the courthouse and those working in the complex.

"It will annoy everybody," he said. "They'll be working in occupied buildings, there will be more noise and some people will have to move twice. It'll be a giant pain. But we'll try to complete it as fast as we can."

Those offices moving out of the administration building the County Commission, county administrators, county attorneys, Government TV, intergovernmental relations and public information will move into a new 100,000-square-foot county administration building due to be completed by September 2008. Plans are for it to be three stories two for offices and one for a ground-level parking garage.

Rubin said Hashman was a reliable, professional company.

"They just finished building St. Johns County Fire Station 16. The station was completed on time with very few change orders," he said.

More courthouse space has been needed for a long time.

The County Commission began talking about expansion in 2002. In 2004, two more judges were assigned to St. Johns County but there was no office space for them.

In 2005, Chief Judge John Alexander asked the commission for more space because, he said, the courthouse was bursting at the seams. The overcrowding included: Bailiffs bringing jail inmates to hearings in shifts, jurors having no comfortable place to assemble, courtrooms being too small.

County Administrator Michael Wanchick said that when all the proposed the changes are completed, they will serve the public well.

"These type of projects are never easy. We'll all be working on the overall logistics to make sure it goes as smoothly as possible," he said. "But we're under budget and ahead of schedule, which is a nice place to be."